A 56-year-old man called authorities at about 2 a.m. Thursday and said Burnett and Whigham walked into his Old Augusta Road home through an unlocked back door. One of the intruders was armed with a revolver, according to a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office incident report.

The homeowner said Burnett and Whigham tied him up and stole his wallet, cell phone and keys. They drove away in his car, and he was able to leave his residence to call 911.

Deputies saw the fleeing vehicle and chased it. The pursuit continued into Richmond County, where Richmond County deputies helped arrest the men.

Burnett, the driver of the car, was taken to the Richmond County jail where he faces several traffic charges including fleeing and having an open container. He is being held without bond. In Columbia County he faces charges including armed robbery, theft, burglary, possession of a firearm during a crime and by a convicted felon.

Whigham, who was taken to the Columbia County Detention Center, was charged with armed robbery, burglary and theft. He is being held without bond.

The following accounts were taken from reports from The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.

Pupil starts fire at school

A Baker Place Elementary School pupil was caught starting fires at the school Tuesday.

A school administrator told deputies that the 9-year-old used a lighter he brought to school to start a fire inside a classroom. The pupil’s reading teacher said she smelled an odor and dismissed the class for lunch, but didn’t see anything unusual about 11:30 a.m. When the class when outside for recess, the pupil was sent to the library to finish a project.

The pupil, a Grovetown resident, then went to another classroom and started a fire in a waste basket, and he couldn’t put it out. The administrator said someone saw him come out of the classroom and asked what he was doing. He was taken back into the classroom where the waste basket was burning. The fire was extinguished.

The lighter was found on the pupil. An administrator said she doesn’t believe the pupil intended to burn the school down, but is infatuated with fire.

The pupil was turned over to school administrators for disciplinary action.

Car vandalized

An Evans man called authorities Monday after discovering someone damaged his car.

The 22-year-old said he parked the car on the curb in front of his house about 8 p.m. the previous night. When he attempted to drive to school Monday morning, he realized the vehicle had a flat tire. He got out to check the tire and discovered both front tires were flat and had 1-inch cuts in the sidewalls.

The gas tank door also was open and the man said he found a grainy substance, possibly sugar, in the fuel intake chamber. One of the rear windows was pelted with eggs.

Tires stolen from parked car

A Grovetown woman called authorities Wednesday after discovering someone stole three tires from a parked car on her property.

The 70-year-old woman said she stopped by the Young Drive property to feed her cows and noticed three tires were missing from the 1997 Plymouth Neon.

The thief did not take the fourth tire because briar bushes were in the way.

Woman finds man exiting mother’s house

An Appling woman told deputies Tuesday that she confronted a man leaving her mother’s home.

The 69-year-old woman said a neighbor told her someone was walking around her mother’s Burks Mountain Road home at about 12:30 p.m. She and the neighbor walked to the house and saw the man coming out of it.

The woman said she asked the man what he was doing. He said he goes into abandoned houses to “see what he can find.” The woman said the property belongs to her and her sister and that he wasn’t welcome on the property.

The man sped away toward Pollard’s Corner in a black Kia sport utility vehicle with Texas tags. The woman doesn’t believe the man took anything from the home.